City Spy: George taxed with curse of Osborne

Wednesday 3 April 2013 10:37 BST

Tax cheats to be shamed: Chancellor George Osborne delivers the budget PA

Under-fire Chancellor George Osborne has been spreading good tidings about the economy as he seeks to divert attention from gossip that senior Tories want to oust him from the Treasury. He was in Sittingbourne, Kent, this week to give a speech in the august surroundings of a Morrisons supermarket. “One of your company slogans — ‘every penny matters’ — is a very fitting catchphrase for what I want to talk about,” declared Osborne, as he made a thrilling speech about “the major changes we’re making to our tax and welfare system this month. Changes that are all about making sure that we use every penny we can to back hard-working people who want to get on in life”. Thanks for that, George. Best not to mention Morrisons’ annual sales, though: down 2.1 per cent, it has been one of the worst performers among the Big Four in the grocery sector. The Osborne effect!

* “We will need no bailout this year. I am calm.” So says Slovenia’s finance minister Uros Cufer. So that’s alright and there’s absolutely no chance Slovenia will become the sixth country in the eurozone to need a bailout after the rescues of Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus.

Here’s some news to drink to: according to the Scotch Whisky Association, the drink accounts for 80 per cent of Scotland’s food and drink exports, with exports last year totalling £4.3 billion. Er, shouldn’t haggis, shortbread and Irn Bru all be providing some competition?

Cable thrives on Sugar-free diet

“Business Secretary Vince Cable is set to get advice from two successful entrepreneurs appointed to help the Government address the needs of small and medium-sized businesses,” declares the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in a press release, announcing that “business owners Lawrence Tomlinson and Rekha Mehr are to become the entrepreneurs in residence”. Experienced Leeds-based entrepreneur Tomlinson has run businesses in a number of sectors including construction, software, chemicals, cars, and care homes. Mehr is the founder and owner of Pistachio Rose, a London-based business creating Anglo-Indian cakes and sweets. Bravo to Vince, pictured, and let’s hope his idea works out. But should Lord Sugar, host of The Apprentice and erstwhile Labour Government champion of entrepreneurship, be involved? After his stint chairing YouView, which saw him abruptly leave the board last month after a bust-up with shareholders — including Channel 5-owner Richard Desmond — Sugar has some free time on his hands.

* Usually politicians decry the bonus culture but Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has spoken up for it. “John Lewis announced three weeks ago that this year its pre-tax profits have risen by 15.8 per cent compared with last year,” he says in a speech to the Law Society.

“Owned by its employees, a proportion of John Lewis profits are paid as bonuses every year — and this year is remarkable. Each and every John Lewis employee will receive a 17 per cent bonus, the equivalent of nine weeks’ salary. It’s refreshing news to hear that more than 84,000 employees will benefit from a company’s success — not just the bosses at the top. That’s the kind of bonus season I want to see.”

Is that a clue that privatisations of Royal Mail, the banks and other state firms will be skewed to favour employees? Or is Clegg just thinking of his own corporate earnings after he quits politics?

* Milk, milk, milkity milk! Does anyone remember the Milk Race? The cycling event was held for 35 years, the last one in 1993, and was effectively the Tour of Britain sponsored by the Milk Marketing Board. The race is making a comeback in May, initially with one day of races in Nottingham, but a lack of funding means it’s set to last for only two years. Yet the Dairy Council and the Milk Marketing Forum (MMF) are lobbying hard for it to become a permanent fixture, and are calling on hard-pressed farmers to dig into their pockets.

“We need a joint effort with funding from all corners of the industry – including producers,” Sandy Wilkie, chairman of the MMF and Dairy Council, told The Grocer.

Come on farmers – wouldn’t it be worth it for the possibility of seeing Sir Bradley Wiggins on a podium triumphantly holding a bottle of milk above his head?

Happy birthday to a vegan bakery on the rise

Happy second anniversary to Ms Cupcake, which claims to be London’s first entirely vegan bakery. Mellissa Morgan, the founder, started baking vegan cupcakes from her flat in Brixton to sell on a Greenwich Market stall in 2011. Since then, she has gone on to open a store in Brixton, with more than 150 flavours of cupcakes plus cookies, shortbreads and muffins now available. While about half her customers are locals, she credits social media and sites such as Yelp for driving trade.

Morgan has got her first book out next month, called The Naughtiest Vegan Cakes in Town, published by Random House, the imprint behind best-selling bondage trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey.

City Spy is not sure how to inflict pain using a cupcake but is willing to try.